Another superb day out in the New Forest.

Saturday 11th May 2024.

One of the majestic views in the New Forest today. This was from Acres Down.

I suppose I should be grateful for having a good haul of moths this morning in my garden, but missing the Northern Lights last night took the edge off it. Facebook was plastered with people I know who saw and took photos of it late last night as the phenomenon was seen all over the UK and I was fast asleep! Becky and I went to Iceland to see the Northern Lights and it was overcast during the four days/nights we stayed there!! Never mind, I still had a damn good days birding and backed up with some nice moths and superb weather. It was another ‘blinder’ of a day with both Geoff Farwell and Andy Fisher.

Above, the Aurora borealis last night and I bloody missed it! Fume! Photo by Joanne Rivers. Below, my first Treble Lines moth of the year at Andy's garden. I have never seen one in this guise before. 

Above, the macro moth White Ermine. Below, the micro Dark Moss Moth. Both new for the year.

Above, the micro moth Black Cloak and below, the macro moth Lime-speck Pug. Both, again, new for the year.  

The Moth Boxes:

There were 22 moths of 13 species recorded this morning in and around my moth box at 5.30am and I am wondering now should I get up earlier to see any that I might have missed at first light? It does mean sleep deprivation, but at least the local Sparrows are not attacking my moths for their breakfast yet. When their young hatch, that's when the Sparrows arrive! Among the moths, new for the year included my first Lime-speck Pugs and a White Ermine. The micro moths Black Cloak and Dark Moss Moth were also present; both resting on top of the rain guard. The following moths were present in my garden this morning:

• Brimstone Moth 3
• Double-striped Pug 2
• Lime-speck Pug 2 (New for Year)
• Common Pug
• Bright-line Brown-eye 2
• Vine’s Rustic
• Least Black Arches
• White Ermine (NFY)
• Shuttle-shaped Dart
• Black Cloak (Notocelia cynosbatella) (NFY)
• Dark Moss Moth (Bryotropha cynosbatella) (NFY)
• Light Brown Apple Moth  4
• Ruddy Streak 2

Meanwhile, over at Andy’s moth trap, there were very few moths present, which was very disappointing. However, he did have my first Treble Lines moth of the year, though a very strange individual too. Other moths included 2 Light Brown Apple Moth and a Ruddy Streak.

After checking the moths in my garden, I relaxed for a while enjoying a cup of coffee and checked the birds going over my house that included a House Martin (probably just arrived this morning) plus a few Linnets and Goldfinches going over. The Swifts are a regular feature now and are always entertaining soaring overhead with a clear blue sky background. Gorgeous. While checking Andy’s moth box and also enjoying another cup of coffee, Geoff and I noticed a large number of Starlings getting rattled by something and with them were a good number of juvenile birds too! Dunnocks were singing from the rooftops as was the delicious sound of a singing Blackbird close by. My Hampshire Rare Birds App suddenly kicked into life and it turned out that a White-winged Black Tern had been found on Pennington Marshes, but it eventually flew off eastbound, Low and behold, it flew all along the coast and was seen by a bunch of ‘Lazee’s’ off Sandy Point and then finally being seen passing Selsey Bill!

Above, the humble Robin often gets overlooked while trying to find the 'special' birds here in the New Forest. Below, a singing male Firecrest high up in a Beech tree not too far from the main car park.

Acres Down, New Forest:

My target species today was the Wood Warbler and Spotted Flycatcher within the woods at this superb area of the Forest and then a good scan over the woodland from the viewpoint for possible Honey Buzzard and other raptors. We parked up in the small car park and made our way through the woodland, enjoying a superb singing male Firecrest high up in a Beech Tree. On reaching a large clearing, here we enjoyed a variety of birds that included singing Redstart, Tree Pipit, Woodlark, Mistle Thrush and even several Common Crossbills were seen. Both Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff were singing also by the clearing; the latter now is becoming increasing scarce and the County recorder now needs exact locations of Willow Warblers on where seen or heard singing. A couple of Cuckoos were heard singing nearby, but no sightings of them this morning. A Common Buzzard flew over the northern end of the clearing and quickly flew off over the woodland.

Above, this pair of Common Crossbills sat in this Silver Birch out in the middle of the clearing and more were seen flying over the clearing. Below, Geoff found good numbers of Sundew plants growing near the footpath.

Above, a singing Tree Pipit was on the edge of the clearing and below, quite a few Brown Silver-line Moths were on the wing throughout the Forest.

Eagle-eyed Geoff found a large clump of Sundew plants growing on the heath close by the main footpath. I have not seen Sundew plants for many years and so promptly grabbed a few photos of this superb plant. I found a lot of daytime moths fluttering around that included both Common Heath and Brown Silver-lines on the heath, mostly being scattered by our footfalls as we made our way along the footpath. We bumped into a fellow birder who told us where to look for the Wood Warblers and eventually we came to the site where we both heard and eventually saw two birds (we believe a male and a female bird) chasing each other through the canopy of some Beech and Silver Birch trees; but too quick to grab a photo. This species had seriously declined recently with only nine reported territories in the whole of the New Forest last year! Very sad. Apparently, we found out that most of the birds recorded in the New Forest are colour ringed and I remember one bird that was photographed last year was plastered with rings on its legs!!! I will not give the exact location of the bird for there have been reports of bird photographers (toggers) chasing the birds to get a decent photo, something I completely disagree with. Someone asked me yesterday where I saw our birds and I replied as vaguely as possible without being rude.

Above, several Brimstone butterflies were seen along our walk in the woodland at Acres Down and below, another moth seen in numbers was this Common Heath.

Above, this gorgeous male Redstart was seen within the woods and below, a female Siskin was on the main footpath, probably picking out small grit to help digestion.

One of the male Redstarts singing at Acres Down today.

In the same woodland as the Wood Warblers, we found a cracking male Redstart, low down this time perched on a large log and good numbers of Siskins seen including a lovely female bird on the main footpath. After completing our circuit around the woodland of Acres Down, we had a quick spot of lunch by the car and a quick check on the ‘Lazee’s’ Whatsapp, we found out that a flock of four Black Terns were on Ibsley Water at Blashford Lakes! I really didn't fancy spending a few hours exposed on the heath searching for raptors in the heathaze over the woodland and so offered the guys a choice: that or Black Terns. It was a no-brainer!

Above, one of the Black Terns on Ibsley Water and being 'photo bombed' by a Black-headed Gull and a Sand Martin. Below, a pair of Common Terns in front of the Tern Hide. 

Above and below, one of the four Black Terns in flight over Ibsley Water. 

Above, another photo of the gorgeous Black Tern. I don't often see them in Spring and so I had to go and take the drive to see the birds. Below, a Common Blue Damselfly just outside the Tern Hide.

One of the Black Terns in front of the Tern Hide at Ibsley Water.

Ibsley Water, Blashford Lakes:

Traffic was building up going into Ringwood, but eventually we made our way north up to Blashford Lakes and having had to park near the main road due to tomorrow's Triathlon event, we walked to the Tern Hide and joined a near packed Hide all enjoying the four gorgeous Black Terns on show. Three of the Black Terns were busy hawking for insects over the calm water while another bird perched on one of the posts. There were some serious camera lenses taking hundreds of photos from the guys in front of us, enjoying some gorgeous Black Terns in front of them. There were also good numbers of Common Terns present too along with a good flock of 6 Great Crested Grebes in front of the Hide and with Sand Martins and Swallows darting about over the water; what's not to love? Even some waders were present that included a pair of Common Sandpipers and Geoff found a Little Ringed Plover on the embankment to the north. Happy with Black Tern on our year list, we made our way back to the car, but not before Geoff had a chat with fellow birder and ecologist, Simon Colenutt. While he was chatting to him, a Common Blue Damselfly landed on the ground nearby and so I took a few photos of the beautiful insect. Nearing the car, a pair of male Garden Warblers were singing deep within a bush, though I did see one fly briefly to add to a superb day total.

Above, a male Broad-bodied Chaser dragonfly in Salisbury Trench Wood and below, one of the many Smooth Newts we found in the puddles by the main footpath within the woodland.

Salisbury Trench Wood, Longcross, nr Fritham;

I still had Spotted Flycatcher on my mind and having seen them in Salisbury Trench Wood last year with Andy, I thought I would try my luck here to round off another superb day's birding. We stopped off briefly at the Garage in Fordingbridge for a refreshing Ice lolly and then made our way through Godshill, slowly going past some Donkeys with their foal and some Ponies and always keeping to the 40mph speed limit! Walking downhill along the footpath through Salisbury Trench Wood, we eventually got onto the main large footpath and headed north. I didn't have a lot of time here and so cut it short to around 30 minutes. But in that time, we had a superb male Goshawk fly over our heads and off over the woodland! Redstarts could be heard singing in the distance as were a few Chiffchaffs. Some Siskins were also seen high up in the conifers including a couple of male birds doing their display flight. Beautiful. We checked out the large puddles by the edge of the footpath, we found a lot of Smooth Newts within them, which were fascinating and held our attention for some time. Along the edge of the footpath, Foxglove plants were springing up all over the place and some were just about to come into flower and a few Bugle plants were found as well.

And so another great day's birding came to an end as we made our way back home reflecting on not only two new birds for our respective year list, but a variety of superb wildlife sightings. 

The last word goes to this superb photo taken by Emma Parkes today of the Black Terns on Ibsley Water. Just stunning.